Christmas

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has budgeted for Christmas decorations in 2009.

Si�n Simon: The Department has budgeted 560 for three Christmas trees.

Departmental Buildings

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has spent on interior decoration in each of the last three years.

Si�n Simon: The Department spent the following amounts on internal decoration in each of the last three years.
	
		
			   
			 2008-09 14,391 
			 2007-08 84,767 
			 2006-07 (1)- 
			 (1) During this financial year the Department completed a full building refurbishment. It is not possible to separate the cost of internal decoration

Departmental Lost Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many  (a) laptop computers,  (b) mobile telephones,  (c) items of office furniture and  (d) works of art have been (i) lost by and (ii) stolen from his Department in each of the last three years; whether his Department made an insurance claim in respect of each such item; and what the estimated value of each item was.

Si�n Simon: The information is as follows:
	 (a) My Department has not had any laptops lost or stolen in the last three financial years.
	 (b) The numbers of lost or stolen mobile phones for each of the last three financial years are:
	2006-07: One lost.
	2007-08: Four lost. Two stolen.
	2008-09: Two lost.
	Equipment is not insured. My Department does not record the value of lost mobile phones but as an indication the current replacement cost of a mobile phone is 195.
	 (c) My Department has not lost any items of office furniture lost or stolen in the last three financial years.
	 (d ) The numbers of lost or stolen works of art for each of the last three financial years are:
	2006-07: None.
	2007-08: Four lost. Two stolen, but since recovered.
	2008-09: Four lost.
	None of these items have been lost by the DCMS itself or stolen from DCMS buildings. At any one time approximately 70 per cent. of the Government art collection's holding of over 13,500 works of art is on display in over 400 buildings operated by different Government Departments in the UK and around the world.
	No insurance claim has been made for any of the lost items as none of them were commercially insured (HMG carries its own risk). The borrower's commercial insurance was in place for the two items stolen from Somerset House whilst on loan, in February 2008. DCMS did not take the payout because the two items were recovered by the police (in September 2008).
	Estimated valuations have not been provided in this answer. In common with other national collections, the Government art collection is normally not commercially insured nor treated as a financial asset. Against a background of constant and volatile fluctuations in the art market, current valuations of every work of art in the collection are not maintained.

Departmental Pay

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what  (a) bonuses and  (b) incentives have been paid to (i) consultants and (ii) contractors engaged by his Department in each of the last three years.

Si�n Simon: In the past three years the Department has paid 5,210.00 to a contractor who exceeded his service level and qualified for an incentive. No bonuses have been paid to either consultants or contractors engaged by the Department in the last three years.

Departmental Taxis

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has spent on taxis in 2008-09.

Si�n Simon: All official travel is undertaken in accordance with rules set out in the Department's Travel and Subsistence guidance and is consistent with the Civil Service Management Code.
	The Department's expenditure on taxis in 2008-09 was 32,179.
	This figure represents expenditure on taxis and black cabs which is separately identified in the Department's accounting system. In addition there is an element of this expenditure included in the general travel and subsistence account which can be identified only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Visits Abroad

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what expenditure his Department has incurred on  (a) international travel and  (b) overseas accommodation in respect of staff in each of the last three years.

Si�n Simon: All official, travel is undertaken in accordance with rules set out in the Department's Travel and Subsistence guidance and is consistent with the Civil Service Management Code.
	Overall departmental expenditure for international travel and subsistence by officials from 2006-07 to 2008-09 is set out in the following table. To disaggregate travel and accommodation costs would incur disproportionate cost as these are not separately recorded on the Department's accounting system.
	
		
			  International travel and subsistence expenditure by officials 
			  Financial year   
			 2008-09 234,100 
			 2007-08 250,550 
			 2006-07 297,830

National Lottery: Grants

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics which community projects have received direct funding from the Olympic Lottery Distribution since its inception.

Tessa Jowell: The Olympic Lottery Distributor (OLD), which is an independent public body, publishes details of its grants in its annual report and on its website at www.olympiclotterydistributor.org.uk:
	http://www.olympiclotterydistributor.org.uk
	The OLD has to date not made any grants to community projects but it has plans to support community projects in the five Olympic boroughs. The OLD is in the process of developing a 4 million funding round for these purposes, with a view to inviting formal applications for grants in 2010.

Departmental Air Travel

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many domestic flights within Great Britain officials from his Department took in an official capacity in 2008-09; and at what cost to the public purse such flights were taken.

Ann McKechin: In 2008-09 officials in the Scotland Office took 231 domestic return flights within Great Britain at a total cost of 67,608.

Departmental Correspondence

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of answering Questions 292544 to 292558, 292572 to 292585, 292587 to 292595, 292615 to 292635, 292637, 292639 to 292645, 292663, 292664, 292690 to 292708, 292710 to 292714, 292723, 292725 to 292735, 292737 to 292740, 292742 to 292750, 292752 to 292757, 292802 to 292827, 292839 to 292861, 292863, 292865 to 292899, 292975 to 292978, 292983 to 293005, 293010, 293015, 293020 to 293028, 293031, 293032 and 293035 tabled on 9 October 2009 by the hon. Member for Meriden for written answer on 13 October 2009.

Barbara Follett: The average cost of answering a written question is 149, as set out in the written ministerial statement made by my hon. Friend the former Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Angela Eagle) on 8 December 2008,  Official Report, column 24WS. The estimated cost of answering the 250 questions tabled by the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 9 October 2009 would therefore be 37,250.

Departmental Pay

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of local government employees earn more than 50,000 per annum.

Barbara Follett: The information requested is not held centrally.

Departmental Pay

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) year end and  (b) in year bonuses were paid to officials in his Department in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08; how many in year bonuses were paid in 2008-09; and how much was paid out in bonuses in each year.

Barbara Follett: The following table shows the number of year end performance bonuses that were paid to staff in Communities and Local Government over the last three years.
	
		
			  Category of Employee  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Senior Civil Service (SCS) 83 104 102 
			 All staff below SCS 301 391 570 
			 Total Cost () 838,250 1,018,350 1,284,547 
		
	
	The Department also has a Special Bonus Scheme to reward exceptional performance in particularly demanding tasks or situations. The maximum bonus under these arrangements is 600 but records are not yet available to show the number of in-year payments made under this scheme.

Departmental Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) laptop computers,  (b) mobile telephones,  (c) items of office furniture and  (d) works of art have been (i) lost by and (ii) stolen from his Department in each of the last three years; whether his Department has made an insurance claim against each such item; and what the estimated value of each item was.

Barbara Follett: The following table identifies the number of laptops and mobile phones that have been reported lost or stolen from this Department in each of the last three years, together with the approximate value of each item.
	
		
			   Stolen  Value ()  Lost  Value () 
			  Lap top computers 
			 2006-07 7 2,100 0 0 
			 2007-08 9 5,600 0 0 
			 2008-09 5 1,500 0 0 
			  Mobile phones 
			 2006-07  300 1 200 
			 2007-08 2 200 0 0 
			 2008-09 1 100 2 100 
		
	
	The Department has not had any items of office furniture or works of art stolen or lost in this period nor has it made any insurance claim for any item referenced.

Local Government: Pay

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was paid in salary and wage costs for local government employees in the last 12 months; and what estimate he has made of the proportion paid to such employees who earn more than 50,000 per annum.

Barbara Follett: In the latest year for which figures are available, 2007-08, total pay including employers National Insurance and Pensions contributions for all local government staff including teachers, police and fire fighters, was 58.8 billion. Further information is available from:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/pdf/1240028.pdf
	No estimate has been made of the proportion paid to employees who earn 50,000 per annum. This information is not collected centrally.

Tenants: Deposits

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has plans to alter the threshold for the tenant deposit protection scheme.

Ian Austin: The Government's response to the Review of the Private Rented Sector, published for consultation in May, announced our intention to review the annual rental threshold for assured and assured shorthold tenancies. This threshold currently excludes tenancies with annual rents of more than 25,000 from being assured shorthold tenancies, with the implication that any deposits taken do not have to be protected under the tenancy deposit protection scheme. The consultation closed in August. We have been considering the responses received and plan to publish the results shortly.

Business: Billing

Anne Moffat: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effect on small businesses of the time to pay measures.

Stephen Timms: The Business Payment Support Service was launched on 24 November 2008 to support viable businesses in temporary financial difficulties. Up to 15 November 2009, the service has agreed over 231,600 time to pay arrangements with businesses to spread tax payments of 4.07 billion.
	This has helped to support over 150,000 businesses, the vast majority of whom are small and medium sized, that employ an estimated 600,000 people. Over 90 per cent. of the value of arrangements is being paid in line with agreed instalments.
	Businesses tell us that they have found the service very helpful by giving them the breathing space they need and by helping them pay their tax bills in a managed and structured way with the full help and support of HM Revenue and Customs.

Corporation Tax: Credit Unions

Bob Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the levying of corporation tax on credit unions; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: As industrial and provident societies, credit unions are liable to corporation tax as any other company but subject to specific exemptions under section 486 and 487 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988. This legislation provides that the principle activity carried out by a credit union, namely making loans to its members, is not liable for corporation tax. However, credit unions are liable on their investment income and any chargeable gains arising.

Taxation: Holiday Accommodation

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department carried out a regulatory impact assessment on new tax rules for furnished holiday lettings included in the Budget 2009.

Stephen Timms: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit �pik) on 12 October 2009,  Official Report, column 263W.

Armed Forces: Housing

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the answer of 10 November 2009,  Official Report, column 223W, on armed forces: housing, what the average monthly rent under the substitute service single accommodation scheme was in each post code area in Greater London in the latest period for which figures are available; what the  (a) maximum and  (b) minimum amount paid in rent in each such area was; how many personnel at each (i) staff officer rank and (ii) equivalent Civil Service payband were accommodated under the scheme in that period; and how much was paid out under the scheme in that period.

Kevan Jones: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) currently rents 1,113 Substitute Service Single Accommodation (SSSA) properties in Greater London to accommodate 1,330 Service personnel. The following tables include all SSSA properties within each postcode area. Details of average, maximum and minimum rents, together with the total monthly rent for all SSSA properties as at 20 November is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Postcode  Number of properties  Highest ()  Lowest ()  Average ()  Total monthly rent () 
			 BR 5 1,248 780 973 4,862.75 
			 CR 8 969 700 783.05 6,264.40 
			 DA 2 1,101 990 1,046 2,091.05 
			 E 204 2,202 805 1,392.08 283,985.24 
			 EC 9 1,687 1,100 1,309.69 11,787.17 
			 EN 1 1,025 1,025 1,025 1,025.00 
			 HA 8 1,425 575 1,006.88 8,055.00 
			 IG 4 1,198 770 987.65 3,950.60 
			 KT 18 1,460 675 1,004.73 18,085.20 
			 N 25 1,845 875 1,271.87 31,796.84 
			 NW 60 2,150 950 1,460.33 87,620.02 
			 RM 5 1,000 742 828.43 4,142.17 
			 SE 173 2,513 675 1,281.68 221,730.11 
			 SM 2 764 675 719.35 1,438.70 
			 SW 460 3,275 725 1,347.70 619,943.95 
			 TW 53 2,050 725 1,102.01 58,406.75 
			 UB 1 775 775 775 775 
			 W 70 2,192 730 1,214.31 85,001.76 
			 WC 1 1,517 1,517 1,516.67 1,516.67 
			 WD 4 1,915 725 1,053.70 4,214.79 
		
	
	The ranks of the personnel currently occupying these properties is shown in the following table. SSSA is provided to entitled, Serving Armed Forces personnel in cases where Single Living Accommodation either does not exist or is not available at or close to their permanent duty station. SSSA is not available to civilian personnel.
	
		
			  Postcode  Rear Admiral/Major General/Air Vice Marshall and above  Commodore/Brigadier/Air Commodore  Captain/  Colonel/Group Captain  Commander/  Lieutenant Colonel/Major/  Wing Commander/  Squadron Leader  Other junior officers  Chief Petty Officer/Warrant Officer/Staff Sergeant/Flight Sergeant  Leading Rating/Corporal and below 
			 BR 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 
			 CR 0 0 0 0 0 7 1 
			 DA 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 
			 E 0 2 8 66 10 96 108 
			 EC 0 0 0 2 1 8 3 
			 EN 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 
			 HA 1 0 0 1 0 5 ! 
			 IG 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 
			 KT 0 0 2 6 3 7 1 
			 N 0 0 0 11 7 10 3 
			 NW 0 0 1 30 6 30 12 
			 RM 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 
			 SE 4 1 12 99 11 56 17 
			 SM 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 
			 SW 9 27 61 330 65 22 10 
			 TW 1 1 3 19 1 27 5 
			 UB 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 W 1 3 7 31 11 18 4 
			 WC 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 
			 WD 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 
			 Total 16 34 95 600 115 299 171

Armed Forces: Pay

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of armed forces personnel earn more than 50,000 per annum.

Kevan Jones: At 1 September 2009, there were 14,430 personnel earning more than 50,000 per annum in gross basic pay, including X Factor but excluding allowances, which represents 8.5 per cent. of trained UK Regular Armed Forces personnel.

Armed Forces: Pay

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was paid in salary and wage costs for armed forces personnel in the last 12 months; and what estimate he has made of the proportion paid to such personnel who earn more than 50,000 per annum.

Kevan Jones: For Financial Year 2008-09 the total bill for basic gross pay for Regular and Reserve forces, including X Factor but excluding allowances, was 5,928,226,958.00.
	An estimated total of 934,300,000.00 (15.76 per cent. of total basic pay) was paid to those personnel earning more than 50,000 per annum.

Territorial Army: Finance

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he made of the likely effect on Territorial Army training of the original 20 million reduction in the Territorial Army budget made in the current financial year.

Bill Rammell: The effect of the 20 million reduction in Territorial Army activity this year was to suspend the majority of training activity that was not directly supporting preparations for Operations. Following the Defence Secretary's subsequent announcement on 28 October 2009,  Official Report, column 353, an additional 20 million has been provided to enable routine Territorial Army activity to continue for the remainder of the year. Commanding Officers have been revising their training plans to reflect this clear direction.

Departmental Internet

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people took part in paid market research to improve the Department's website at the end of October 2009; and how much each person was paid to take part in such research.

Patrick McFadden: 31 people took part in a series of focus groups. Each participant was paid 60. A number of BIS staff were also involved in this phase of research, but none received payment.
	Eight people took part in a series of one-to-one sessions. Each was paid 50.
	The rates paid in both phases are in line with industry standards, as recommended by the research agency.

Higher Education: Historic Buildings

Frank Field: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer of 9 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 169-170W on higher education: historic buildings, how much each university received from the Higher Education Funding Council for England to support old and historic buildings under the fixed targeted allocation in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The allocations for 2008/09 are as follows.
	
		
			
			 Anglia Ruskin University 150,865 
			 Aston University 34,813 
			 Bath Spa University 155,009 
			 University of Bedfordshire 50,742 
			 Birkbeck College 205,137 
			 University of Birmingham 698,531 
			 Birmingham City University 158,161 
			 Bishop Grosseteste University College, Lincoln 494,810 
			 University of Bolton 30,699 
			 University of Bradford 302,600 
			 University of Brighton 228,506 
			 University of Bristol 1,135,401 
			 Brunei University 320,565 
			 Buckinghamshire New University 35,436 
			 University of Cambridge 4,270,947 
			 Institute of Cancer Research 21,394 
			 Canterbury Christ Church University 48,165 
			 University of Central Lancashire 627,542 
			 Central School of Speech and Drama 41,238 
			 University of Chester 283,340 
			 University of Chichester 313,917 
			 City University, London 345,319 
			 University of Cumbria 285,380 
			 De Montfort University 1,107,332 
			 University of Derby 63,258 
			 University of Durham 707,072 
			 University of East London 274,773 
			 Institute of Education 96,734 
			 University of Essex 18,304 
			 University College Falmouth 136,563 
			 University of Gloucestershire 230,874 
			 Goldsmiths College, University of London 452,165 
			 University of Greenwich 346,048 
			 Harper Adams University College 87,533 
			 University of Huddersfield 248,311 
			 University of Hull 112,822 
			 Imperial College London 899,310 
			 Keele University 69,472 
			 University of Kent 36,704 
			 King's College London 2,213,335 
			 University of Leeds 1,316,567 
			 Leeds Metropolitan University 557,416 
			 University of Leicester 361,144 
			 University of Lincoln 25,854 
			 University of Liverpool 1,315,922 
			 Liverpool John Moores University 709,723 
			 University of the Arts London 694,911 
			 University of London 48,190 
			 London Business School 10,862 
			 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine 11,385 
			 London Metropolitan University 138,028 
			 London South Bank University 205,797 
			 University of Manchester 2,025,504 
			 Manchester Metropolitan University 608,002 
			 Middlesex University 85,990 
			 University of Newcastle upon Tyne 1,362,103 
			 University of Northumbria at Newcastle 248,850 
			 Norwich University College of the Arts 163,440 
			 University of Nottingham 294,067 
			 Nottingham Trent University 394,729 
			 Open University 67,222 
			 School of Oriental and African Studies 43,494 
			 University of Oxford 5,214,488 
			 University of Plymouth 290,031 
			 University of Portsmouth 471,721 
			 Queen Mary, University of London 463,809 
			 University of Reading 108,018 
			 Roehampton University 188,817 
			 Rose Bruford College 60,300 
			 Royal Academy of Music 69,331 
			 Royal Agricultural College 148,120 
			 Royal College of Art 40,199 
			 Royal College of Music 117,208 
			 Royal Holloway, University of London 317,989 
			 Royal Veterinary College 86,848 
			 St. Mary's University College 26,757 
			 University of Salford 338,176 
			 University of Sheffield 843,098 
			 Sheffield Hallam University 325,445 
			 University of Southampton 168,997 
			 Southampton Solent University 14,106 
			 University of Sunderland 159,216 
			 University of Surrey 14,085 
			 University of Teesside 134,593 
			 Thames Valley University 5,531 
			 Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance 94,026 
			 University College London 1,528,978 
			 University of Warwick 9,224 
			 University of the West of England, Bristol 184,194 
			 University of Westminster 197,284 
			 University of Winchester 113,695 
			 University of Wolverhampton 58,151 
			 Writtle College 40,291 
			 University of York 380,918 
			 York St. John University 415,591

Insolvency

Michael Weir: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans his Department has to review the regulation of the Insolvency Service.

Ian Lucas: At present operation of The Insolvency Service is regulated through the requirement to produce, and lay in Parliament, an annual corporate plan, as well as annual fees orders, which sets the fees charged by official receivers for the work they carry out in dealing with bankruptcy and insolvency case administration. For The Services' work in company investigation and enforcement, and redundancy payments, funding is set through, allocations made from BIS and HMRC respectively and the level of this allocation is made in response to submissions from The Service to each Department, as part of their wider budget setting.
	For all areas of The Service, The Corporate Plan sets out its vision for delivering services for the next three years, with particular emphasis on its plans and targets for the coming year. The Plan is reviewed by BIS to ensure that its goals are realistic and that targets are achievable within the resources available, and yet are set at a level to stretch the organisation and not allow complacency. Performance against the targets and budgets thus set is reported to the Minister on a quarterly basis.
	There are no plans to make substantive changes to this reporting process.

Carbon Emissions: Housing

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department plans to spend on steps to achieve the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target in  (a) 2009-10,  (b) 2010-11,  (c) 2011-12,  (d) 2012-13 and  (e) 2013-14; and what estimate he has made of the (i) proportion of such expenditure to be incurred in England, (ii) the carbon savings to be achieved, (iii) the number of properties affected and (iv) the number of jobs created from such expenditure in each year.

Joan Ruddock: The Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) is a GB-wide obligation on electricity and gas suppliers with more than 50,000 customers to achieve 185mt CO2 savings in the domestic sector. It runs from April 2008 to March 2011. The costs of the scheme fall to energy suppliers. The Government estimate that the cost to suppliers of meeting the obligation over the three years is 3.2 billion.
	Energy suppliers contract with third party installers, primarily insulators, to source and supply these measures on their behalf. By March 2009 suppliers had achieved 55.3mt CO2 savings, reaching over one million households with insulation measures alone. CERT supports the full spectrum of energy efficiency measures and independent estimates from November 2008 (Element Energy: An Assessment of the size of the UK household energy efficiency market) showed that there are 50,000 people directly involved in the domestic energy efficiency products and services market (with a much larger number c.900,000 in supporting areas).

Climate Change

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials from his Department he expects to (i) attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and (ii) travel to that conference by air; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of such travel.

Joan Ruddock: The UK delegation to the UNFCCC conference in Copenhagen has not yet been finalised, however, the current list identifies two Ministers and 36 officials from the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
	At present 19 delegates have confirmed their intention to travel to the conference by air. This is necessary as the rail options are limited, and inflexible. As delegates will be working around the clock many individuals have fixed appointments that set fixed boundaries to their possible travel times. Not all delegates have made their travel arrangements as of yet. DECC has estimated up to 17,500 for the total cost of travel for all UK delegates attending the conference. The cumulative cost so far is well below this figure.

UK School Games

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children have competed in the UK School Games in each year in which they have been staged; and what the cost of staging those games was in each such year.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
	The UK School Games is a multi-sport competition organised by the Youth Sport Trust for school-aged children and acts at the pinnacle of a wider competition pathway. The Youth Sport Trust has advised that the total cost and numbers of competitors in each UK School Games since its conception, is as follows:
	 Glasgow 2006
	1,100 competitors across five sports at the four-day event
	Total year round cost of UK School Games: 2.036 million
	 Coventry 2007
	1,350 competitors across eight sports
	Total year round cost of UK School Games: 2.89 million
	 Bristol and Bath 2008
	1,470 competitors across nine sports
	Total year round cost of UK School Games: 3.26 million
	 South Wales 2009
	1,523 competitors across 10 sports
	Total year round cost of UK School Games: 3.30 million (estimated final cost).

Police: Pay

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was paid in salary and wage costs for police forces in the last 12 months; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of that paid to police officers and civilian police force staff who earn more than 50,000 per annum.

David Hanson: Approximately 10,901,841,000(1) was paid in salary and wage costs for police forces in England and Wales in 2008-09.
	Information on the proportion paid to police officers and staff who earn more than 50,000 per annum is not available.
	(1) Figures taken from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) are 2008-09 provisional actuals.